Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr. (born August 3, 1977) is an American former professional footballquarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 23 seasons. He spent his first 20 seasons with the New England Patriots and was a central contributor to the franchise's dynasty from 2001 to 2019. In his final three seasons, he was a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Brady is widely regarded as the greatest quarterback of all time.[3]
After playing college football for the Michigan Wolverines, Brady was selected 199th overall by the Patriots in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL draft, later earning him a reputation as the NFL's biggest draft steal.[4][5][6] He became the starting quarterback during his second season, which saw the Patriots win their first Super Bowl title in Super Bowl XXXVI. As the team's primary starter for18 seasons,[a] Brady led the Patriots to17 division titles (including11 consecutive from 2009 to 2019),13 AFC Championship Games (including eight consecutive from 2011 to 2018), nine Super Bowl appearances, and six Super Bowl titles, all NFL records for a player and franchise.[b] He joined the Buccaneers in 2020 and won Super Bowl LV, extending his individual records to10 Super Bowl appearances and seven victories.[9] Since 2024, Brady is the lead color commentator for the NFL on Fox, teaming with play-by-play announcer Kevin Burkhardt.[10][11]
Brady holds many major quarterback records, including most career passing yards, completions, touchdown passes, and games started. He is the NFL leader in career quarterback wins, quarterback regular season wins, quarterback playoff wins, and Super Bowl Most Valuable Player (MVP) Awards, and the only Super Bowl MVP for two different franchises. Additional accolades held by Brady include the most Pro Bowl selections and the first unanimous NFL MVP. The only quarterback to win a Super Bowl in three separate decades, Brady is also noted for the longevity of his success. He was the oldest NFL MVP at age40, the oldest Super Bowl MVP at age43, and the oldest quarterback selected to the Pro Bowl at age44.[12][13] Brady is the only NFL quarterback named to two all-decade teams (2000s and 2010s)[14] and was unanimously named to the 100th Anniversary All-Time Team in 2019.
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